Gradual Sins
by BleedingNightshade
Summary: Chise was freed, and Joseph was put to slumber, but in the struggle, a bond was created. The curse of the dragon was powerful, but Cartaphilus was stronger. Now two hosts shared his curse, to never age. No never die. To be forgotten from history itself. They each viewed the world in a way unique only to them, with a silver and green eye.


"It does not matter how _small_ the sins are . . . Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the _gradual_ one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, _without_ sudden turnings, _without_ milestones, _without_ signposts."

**-C.S. Lewis**

* * *

She was a beauty. She was full of fire and vinegar. Selfish and determined. So young and fresh. It was beyond disgusting. He hated her personality and her vigor. He made his disgust and hatred clear to her.

"I can't hold you down without both arms, so I'm going to have to mount you to hold you down." His words weren't made meant to be suggestive, simply a fact. However, the woman's cheeks grew a light pink dusting, and her previous fire died down to a stammering flame. Poor innocent little mortal. "Do be a dear and don't squirm too much, okay?"

As Joseph crouched above her, he couldn't help but grin at their positioning. The little chit was reclined on his couch. He had a leg on either side of her hip, and he was firmly seated on her flat stomach, his weight being used as an anchor to hold her in place.

"Could I ask for some anesthetic, please?" Finally, a notch of a fear trembled in her voice.

Her wide green eyes looked up at him, begging and frightened. It was such a beauty. So wonderful, that she finally learned her place. Her healthy hand moved grasp at her cursed left arm.

Joseph smiled at her breathtaking appearance, and reached out to caress her cheek, just below her left eye. "Now, do you really think chemicals would work on your body as it is now?"

She was a pretty thing. She fit perfectly beneath him, her frail body still weaker than his patched-up immortal shell. Fire red hair spread out in a tangled mess, and fearful green eyes stared back at him. For Joseph, this was a small woman, not a child.

"The dragon's curse in you would burn it up in an instant." There was no pain relief. Not in this life. Not for him, and not for her. As his fingers crept loser, he could feel the fear intensifying.

"Now then, take a deep breath." Joseph felt a moment of pity for her. The pain was going to be intense, and the breathing wouldn't help, but it would be something to focus her mind on. "Three. Two. On-"

Her scream ripped through the air. The shrill tone almost rattled the glass around his chimeras' cages, sending the patched up beasts into a wild frenzy. Her body instinctively tried to struggle away from the source of her pain, thrashing her head back, and her hips bucked forward in an effort to unseat him.

The eyeball sat delectably between his long finger, the squishy object dripping blood. In his palm, his own eyeball rolled about, seeking a new area to nestle in. She was still crying, tears leaking from her lone eye, as she thrashed and struggled. Her beautiful screams mingled with the strangled calls of his pets, filling the room with a broken, haunting melody.

His hands moved quickly, popping his own eye into her now-empty socket. He shifted his weight, pressing his hips forward to keep her pinned. Having no other way to convey her pain, Chise's body attempt to curl into itself. Her tear stricken face curled upwards, and burrowed into Joseph's chest. Her sobs and cries surrounded him, sending a bolt of joy through Joseph. His own hand moved up, pressing the soft round meat into his own cavern. Magic tinged the air around them, as their bodies reacted to the new organs.

Her cries were growing louder as her magic attempted to fight off the strange magic. No doubt, physical pain was accompanying the battle, but Joseph's own magic was stronger. Submitting itself to the higher power, Joseph felt the faint hum, as their bodies accepted each other.

Gently, Joseph wrapped his arm around Chise's head, holding her to his chest. His bloody fingers weaved through the red strands, and his grip was on the verge of pain, as he gripped the strands.

"There," the sorcerer hummed. "All done."

Her sobs was slowly growing quieter, and she tried to push his hand back, but Joseph held tight. Strangely, he liked the feeling of holding the young woman to him, even as her tears and blood stained his shirt.

"It's all right. Deep breaths, now. In, out." The young chit followed his instruction, breathing deeply and slowly. "A little blood won't kill you." His eyes stayed down to his bloody finger, still gripping the red strands of her hair. A manic grin formed on his lips. "It only feels like you're dying, that's all."

She might as well get use to it now. The feeling of death, without the sweet release of oblivion. His curse would take a while to start growing, but it was like a parasite. It wouldn't release, not ever.

Joseph held her close, as his own eyes lifted upwards. His body had overshadowed her power, instantly accepting her eye as his own. Through her iris, he could see a world he hadn't known before. A world of darkness and torture, was different now.

"The world looks so beautiful through your eyes," he admitted. His new eye traced the shimmering path of a wildness fae, the green glitter oddly out of place in his dark laboratory. Some faes, previously unseen to him, were everywhere. Some were on the cages of his chimeras, other slinking on the floor. Some of the braver ones were perched on the edge of his couch, reaching out to comfort their queen bee. "I'm a little jealous now."

Even when she had nothing, she wasn't alone. How he hated her.

"You know, you and I, we're the only people in the world who can see it the same way." One side of darkness, one side of innocence. Two curses, one to kill and one to live forever. Each a burden on its own. Her face tilted back, looking at the world for the first time with his eyes. Briefly, he wondered how much it has changed for her.

One grey, one green. Filled with tears and blood, traced the unseen world around her. Fear and pain still wracked her body, sending tremors through her. The look of pain and fear, it was a beautiful sight on her. Almost made her pretty.

Almost.

"Once the curse settles in a little, I'll start on the arm." His hand traced the roughed surfaced of her monstrous hand. The unique limb that would finally grant him death. He wasn't sure if it was her new dreadful sight, or the touch of his fingertips, but another tremor shook her body, and a pained whimper escaped her. "You'll be asleep for that one, so don't worry."

If she struggled at the pain of losing her eye, imagine how she was going to react when he chopped off her arm. Her cries would be beautiful, but Joseph was not quite strong enough to hold her down for that struggle.

Pity.

His previously loosened hold tightened, forcing her face back to his chest. She didn't struggle, still too weak from her eye operation. Joseph knew what he had to do, and he was pleased to feel the magic in her eye responding to his command like a puppy.

"I'll be borrowing the power you left in your eye, by the way." It was only fair to let her know. After all, it was her magic he was using.

"Wha . . ." her hand pushed against his chest in a physical display of fighting off her own magic. "What di-did yo-you-"

Joseph let her head lean back, so their unique set of eyes could finally look at each other. A soft grin pulled at the corner of his lips. "I told you, didn't I? I hate you. So, here."

Her body went limp, as she fell into the haunting sleep that Joseph weaved her into.

`•.¸¸.•´´¯`•• .¸¸.•´¯`

_Destroy me?_

How could it have gone wrong, so fast? He transfer thousands of limbs. Magical and mortal. He had used sleeping spells before, each one more powerful than the last. She wasn't meant to awaken. She wasn't meant to break into his mind.

This whole damn fight shouldn't have happened!

Yet, Ashen Eyes had fallen. Here they stood, equal on the battlefield. Her clothes streaked with blood. Her unique set of eyes staring down at him like he was a diseased corpse. Her cursed arm, that should have belonged to him, clinched tight with fury.

Her human hand reached out to grip his shirt, pulling him off of the dusty street where he fell. "Maybe you've had it worse. Worse than me, worse than anybody!" She had no idea. A small slip into his past. A small trip into his memories. That was nothing. It was _nothing_. "But, that's no excuse! That doesn't mean you can make other hurt like you're hurting!"

How dare she? How fucking dare she? Joseph had seen into her memories too. He had seen her pain and actions. She thought she had the right to lecture him? _"It doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want!"_ She proceeded to scream at him.

"But you can hurt yourself, is that it?" She reacted like he had physically slapped her. "You dare to lecture me about what I can and can't do to others, when you've never considered how the people around you might feel about you sacrificing yourself?"

At least Joseph's methods were clear. Harm. Take. Replace. Harvest. She was different. She wanted to harm herself, and harm others in the same motions. A ripple effect. How was that fair? How was that different?

Joseph lashed out, managing to break himself free of her grip, and sending her sprawling back. He moved to put some distance between them, when his own shadow betrayed him. A tendril of shadow wrapped around his ankle, sending him backwards.

Her familiar. The grimm he had wanted. Yet another thing that she had stolen from him.

She leaped forward at the same time, pinning him down. Her long legs on either side of his hips, with her ass nestled on the flat of his stomach. It was only fitting that she had him pinned, like he had pinned her.

A sleeping spell was already falling from her lips, attempting to pull him under. He could see her magic, like transparent vines reaching for him. They curled and stretched forward, soft like down feather, and warm like a summer morning.

It would have been nice to submit.

The magic in her eyes knew better though. It rose to the challenge, fire against fire, to naturalize the approach spell. Her own trick would not work against herself, and Joseph was now a part of her, as she is to him

"Sleep spells won't get you anywhere." Joseph felt his lips pulling back in a grin. The copper taste of blood, both his and hers -_theirs_-, tainted the corner of his lips "You're still part of me, after all." She looked so fierce, crouched above him. Trying her hardest to subdue him, in such a peaceful way. "It's a shame, but it's time to say goodbye."

Her gasp was a warped, bubbly sound. Blood pooled in her mouth, overflowing and dipping down onto his own face. Her eyes, a green and grey, grew wide with shock. Her body jerked several times, before going rigid.

His own grotesque arm was speared through her body. Straight through the stomach, clipping her liver, narrowly missing her spine. Her blood pooled around him, trailing small rivers down. The look of pained surprised, brought a smile to Joseph's face.

Her hands reached out to grasps uselessly at his am. One hand soft, and warm against his scaled arm. The other rough, and cold, despite the black feathers that brushed him. The pained grimace morphed into a bloody, self-satisfied grin, as more blood dipped from her mouth.

"Got you."

A malicious grin formed on her bloody lips, as part of her shadow detached itself to form the body of a young man. Distinctly he remembered the grimm's human disguise, having watched the spirit wander between the graves for weeks before attempting to take him. The grimm's lips were pulled back in a human snarl, as his hand reached forward.

His arm was speared through her body, an anchor to each other. Her own mutated dragon limb, holding tight so he couldn't slip free. He was pinned, and had nowhere to go to escape the grimm's clawed touch.

_Splrrtch!_

It was his scream that echoed through the abandoned cobblestone streets, as his new eye was carelessly tossed to the ground. He could hear the wet squelch as the organ bounced three separate times, before rolling out of reach.

Joseph was use to agony. He knew the limits of his mortal body, and even those of the supernatural kind. He had been crushed, drowned, torn apart and put back together. Having his eye ripped out was painful, but it was not the reason for his cry.

His pained yell and tears were for what was lose with that eye. The world, previously scattered with trails of gold, green and silver, were gone. Casted away in a world of grey and black. The unique creatures he had never seen, were gone again, like an illusion not meant to last. The beauty of her world, was gone, as his own returned with a vengeance.

This time, it was he who curled into himself. His one eye shutting as he tried to adjust once more. He was painfully panting as he leaned forward, resting his face on his own monstrous arm, which held the two together.

"E-Elias!"

Those black vines were one of legends. He had seen the death and destruction those vines could do. Yet, as those spidery vines crawled out of her shadow, he could see the dual nature of them. He watched as those tendrils softly gazed the flesh of the young body above him. They caressed and twined together, forming an elegant cage around her.

The vines which reached for him, were not nearly as gentle. The thorns scrapped along his skin, drawing blood. The tendrils wrapped tight, gripping and holding him in place, as the thorn barbed themselves into his body.

They were trapped as one, and yet, Joseph knew that he was the going to be the victim. He was at the disadvantage now, with the loss of her eye. He was the one who had no power.

"No, _no_!" Joseph tried to struggled against the vines holding him in place, to no avail. He could only watch in fear, as Chise's bloody palm reached forward, her intent unknown. "I don't want to!"

_'Don't touch me!'_

Her touch was soft, her bloody palm skating over his cheekbone. He no longer knew who's blood was on her palm, and in this gruesome embrace that had them locked together, he didn't think it really mattered anymore.

Instead of bringing harm, or pain, Chise's hand traveled back, behind his neck, laying over his shoulder blade. With a small amount of strength, Chise pulled him forward until they were locked in a new embrace.

"What-what?" He did not remember the last time somebody gave him a hug.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Despite the pain, and the fight they were just engaged in, her words were a soft murmur. "To have nobody understanding you?"

She had no idea. _No idea_! The pain and suffering he had to endure, over a promise he could not remember. What right did she have, to ask such a question? To speak, as if she could be the one to understand him.

He didn't know when his own arms moved to embrace her back. He barely had the strength to struggle, but he somehow managed to move his arms and hug her back. He grabbed a fistful of her shirt, intending on pushing her away. Yet, all he could do was hold on, as his remaining eye traitorously teared up.

Her song filled the air, and this time, he felt her magic. It was soft, and warm, like her embrace. It filled the air around him, weighing heavily on his limbs. He didn't even try to fight off the sleep, knowing that she had won.

"Goodnight Cartaphilus. Joseph." Her murmur was for his ears alone, as secretive as the tears she let soak into her shirt, before they could be seen.

As his world darken, with the unknown knowledge of when or if he would awaken, Joseph heard her last words spoken. "He's got a point. I'd really hate, to be in so much pain, for two thousand years."

`•.¸¸.•´´¯`•• .¸¸.•´¯`

Joseph was having a dream. It was not uncommon, he dreamed a lot whenever he slept. He had over two thousands years to create a dream, and even longer if Cartaphilus felt like interfering or injecting his own memories.

Dreams were not uncommon, not even those where he was prisoner inside his own body. A bystander, to what was unfolding before him and how he reacted.

"Chise," his lips spoke her name gently.

She was sitting before him. A single flame, amongst the endless darkness they were in. The wooden chair she sat in was unremarkable. Her oversized white shirt appeared to be the only thing she was wearing, though her modesty was still preserved. The only thing changed, was her mutated arm. It no longer held its monstrous state, but appeared normal, except for its midnight hue.

"Hello again," Joseph reached forward to rest his hand on the back of the chair.

Finally, her eyes looked up at him. One a bright green, and another, the shimming silver of his own. A wicked smiled crossed his lips at the sight. "You've got a little while until your body starts to function again, so I thought I'd drop by."

Joseph had no intention of ever visiting this girl's dreams. Yet, he was not lying either. This must be Cartaphilus speaking, through the use of Joseph's own dream body.

"I've had some strong words with the dragon inside you. I will keep you alive, while the dragon keeps you strong."

On queue, there was movement in the darkness behind her. Joseph's eyes flickered back briefly, sending a glare to the hidden beast. Joseph knew that the dragon was keeping his distance for a reason. The two curses had clashed, as only one could rule the human body they were forced into, and it was Cartaphilus that was given reign. There was no negotiations, nor treaty. Cartaphilus did _not_ share.

"The dragon wants to kill you. I can't say when exactly that will happen, but I can at least say it won't be any time soon. No, _you have time_." The grin he gave her, felt carefree. Joseph did not remember the last time his lips and cheek had formed such an expression.

Suddenly, a flash of light split the night. "Ah, look," Joseph mused. "It is time."

It was time for her to wake up. To leave this darkness and the answers it held. It was time was Chise to join the mortal world, as something more unique than she ever was.

"Go now, to the person waiting for you."

Joseph was left alone in the darkness, with only the subdued beast as his companion, and the instinctive knowledge that when Chise opened her eyes, one of them would still shine silver.

Indeed, it was a strange dream they had just shared.

* * *

Getting inside of Joseph and Cartaphilius' mind is _hard_. I have no doubt that he hates her but it's clear that he holds some respect for her.

One of the main things I didn't like about the anime ending, is how the curses balanced each other out. It seems like such a simple solutions. In so many years, you're telling me that Cartaphilius never tried this before? I highly doubt it. So what is Cartaphilius was just a _tad_ bit stronger than the dragon?

_**Disclaimer ~**_

I own nothing. Otherwise this is how the story would have gone. This is FanFiction for a reason.


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